Gas prices shoot up across Marin and the Bay Area

Gas at one Marin service station approached $5 a gallon Thursday as prices across California soared toward record levels amid fuel supply shortages.

A week ago Bridgeway Gas in Sausalito reported the price of a gallon of unleaded gas at $4.29. By Thursday it had jumped to $4.97 a gallon.

Elsewhere in Marin the increase was more modest. At Safeway, gas at the Hamilton Marketplace increased from $4.03 to $4.24 in the past week, following a trend that has hit the Bay Area and state as a whole.

The average cost of a regular gallon of gas on Thursday increased 10 cents per gallon in just one day and went up 20 cents in a week throughout the Bay Area and California even as nationwide prices remained flat, according to AAA's daily survey of gas stations.

"In the short term I think it's going to be pretty ugly," said Denton Cinquegrana, executive editor of the Oil Price Information Service.

Analysts said the average per gallon was at $4.32 and poised to quickly soar past $4.37 a gallon, the high so far this year. The highest average price ever for regular gasoline in the state was $4.61 in 2008.

Chevron's Richmond refinery has scaled back operations since the fire there in August. But the latest, most significant problem happened on Monday when an Exxon Mobil refinery in Southern California lost power amid sweltering temperatures, leading to production problems.

Also this week, chemical problems forced the shutdown of a pipeline that feeds gas from the Central Valley to the Bay Area and Phillips 66 plants were undergoing maintenance work at both ends of the state.

The state's gasoline network is interconnected, meaning problems in the Los Angeles area will affect what we pay here, just as Southern California saw price spikes after the Richmond refinery fire.

In California, gasoline inventories are the lowest in more than 10 years — a situation made worse by the state's strict pollution limits that require a special blend of cleaner-burning gasoline.

How long will the price ascent last?

"We have seen price spikes like this before and they're usually short-lived," said Alison Roberts, a spokeswoman for the California Energy Commission. "We really have no crystal ball. But we are optimistic that it is going to be short-lived — whether that's days (or more, we) don't quite know."

The trend is isolated to California, where gas stations are passing on the cost to drivers after paying more for the wholesale fuel they get from refineries around the state.

Other states have seen gas stay flat in recent days and weeks. The nationwide average price at the pump, $3.78, is actually down a penny compared with a week ago, AAA reported.

IJ staff, Bay Area News Group and The Associated Press contributed to this report.